Americans United - Marcus Brandonhttps://www.au.org/tags/marcus-brandon
enMarrying Church And State: N.C. Preachers And Politicians Want To Throw The Book (Of Matthew) At Same-Sex Couples https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/marrying-church-and-state-nc-preachers-and-politicians-want-to-throw-the
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Our opponents don’t even pretend to have a secular rationale for many of their legislative proposals. They want Americans to live under their version of &#039;biblical law.&#039;</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>A recent poll showed that, for the first time, most Americans support extending civil marriage rights to same-sex couples. The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/slim-majority-back-gay-marriage-post-abc-poll-says/2011/03/17/ABhMc7o_story.html">number stands</a> at 53 percent but is expected to grow in the years to come. Younger people are much more likely to favor the idea.</p>
<p>What’s it like to be on the losing side of a seismic cultural shift? Ask supporters of the Religious Right. Their response so far has been to dig in and continue to trot out the same tired arguments.</p>
<p>We saw an example of this yesterday in North Carolina, where fundamentalist preachers and their flocks <a href="http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/05/18/article/triad_legislator_opposes_a_ban_of_gay_marriage">gathered</a> at the capitol building in Raleigh to demand that the legislature approve a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>The Greensboro <em>News Record</em> noted, “The rally had something of a religious feel, with a cross on display and ‘amens’ heard above the cheers and applause. Speakers unabashedly called for having Christian principles inform state legislation.”</p>
<p>The newspaper quoted Forsyth County Republican Party Chairman Nathan Tabor, who said, “There is no separation of church and state; it’s not in the constitution. It’s the liberal agenda to try to take God out of America.”</p>
<p>The <em>Winston-Salem Journal</em> noted that Tabor <a href="http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/may/18/WSMAIN01-thousands-rally-at-legislature-for-ban-on-ar-1042334/">buttressed his argument</a> by citing the Book of Matthew, which states that man and woman shall be “one flesh.”</p>
<p>But if you read the quote in context, it sounds more like a prohibition against divorce than same-sex marriage. The passage reads, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”</p>
<p>As far as I know, Tabor is not pushing for a ban on divorce in the state.</p>
<p>Of course, that’s irrelevant anyway. American law is not based on the Book of Matthew (or Leviticus or the Quran or any other scripture). It’s based on the values embedded in our secular constitution. That same document, I’d like to point out to Tabor, does indeed provide for the separation of church and state through the First Amendment.</p>
<p>Rallies like this, with their revival-tent feel and demands that laws be based on a narrow interpretation of the Bible, only prove a point AU has been making for years: Our opponents don’t even pretend to have a secular rationale for many of their legislative proposals. They want Americans to live under their version of “biblical law.”</p>
<p>As amendment backers rallied outside the capitol building, inside a state lawmaker held a press conference with progressive religious leaders to present another view.</p>
<p>Rep. Marcus Brandon, a Democrat from High Point, told reporters that he is Christian and is offended “when people try to determine what my relationship with God and my walk with Jesus is.”</p>
<p>The Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, an AME Zion pastor, said, “At a time when legislators should be chopping away at unemployment rates and searching for ways to build a budget that would befriend the poor and marginalized, legislators are choosing to advance this divisive social agenda."</p>
<p>Ari Margolis, assistant rabbi at Temple Beth Or in Raleigh, reminded reporters that in America, religious law cannot be used to take away people’s rights.</p>
<p>“We oppose the use of sacred texts and religious traditions to deny legal equality to gay and lesbian couples,” said Margolis.</p>
<p>So do we at Americans United. If it’s properly applied, the principle of church-state separation will protect us from that.</p>
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</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/churches-and-politics">Churches and Politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/lobbying-by-churches-and-religious-groups">Lobbying by Churches and Religious Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-including-same-sex-marriage">Marriage (including same-sex Marriage)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-groups%E2%80%99-involvement-in-ballot-initiatives">Religious Groups’ Involvement in Ballot Initiatives</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marcus-brandon">Marcus Brandon</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/nathan-tabor">Nathan Tabor</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/north-carolina">north carolina</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/same-sex-marriage">same-sex marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/t-anthony-spearman">T. Anthony Spearman</a></span></div></div>Wed, 18 May 2011 15:12:07 +0000Rob Boston2194 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/marrying-church-and-state-nc-preachers-and-politicians-want-to-throw-the#comments